Asian History Commons^™

Reminiscences Of Lafcadio Hearn, Setsuko Koizumi, Paul Kiyoshi Hisada, Frederick Johnson

Zea E-Books Collection

Setsuko Koizumi (1868–1932) was the daughter of a Japanese samurai family in Matsué. In 1891 she married a foreigner — Lafcadio Hearn (1850–1904) — and their union lasted 13 years and produced three children. Hearn adopted her family name, becoming Koizumi Yakumo 小泉八雲,and spent those years in Japan writing, teaching, and achieving international recognition. Setsuko’s Reminiscences tells something of the couple’s moves and travels, but focuses mostly on the character, habits, and eccentricities of her husband. The book is a heartfelt and intimate portrait of a marriage that brought Lafcadio the home and family he had never before enjoyed. This …

Ua94/6 Wku Pershing Rifles Company B-3 Vietnam Timeline, Doug Verdier

Student/Alumni Personal Papers

Timeline of Vietnam War events 1963-1975 experienced by Pershing Rifles members compiled by Doug Verdier.

Ua94/6 Company B 3rd Regiment Pershing Rifles Wku 1960s, Doug Verdier

Student/Alumni Personal Papers

Personal narratives of members of the Pershing Rifles compiled by Doug Verdier.

Hygiene And Daily Life In Republican China, 1911—1945, Sarah Xia Yu

Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations

This dissertation reveals how acceptable, clean, responsible behaviours were defined through overlapping, transnational networks of both medical professionals and laypeople, and how the proliferation of these developments featured in the everyday lives of Chinese in the early twentieth century. Responding to previous studies of public health in Republican China on the central government’s institutions, the project instead explores aspects of daily life and public opinion from grassroots actors, highlighting myriad nuanced lived experiences and the inherent value that ordinary Chinese placed on health and social responsibility. Chinese society in the early twentieth century was cosmopolitan in its outlook and influenced …

When Numbers Lie, Brandon Johnson

Tredway Library Prize for First-Year Research

This paper breaks down officially-reported statistics surrounding Japanese-American internment in the United States. Specifically, his paper argues that numbers have a voice, hold power, and that the many discrepancies surrounding these statistics have far-reaching and lingering implications.

Whose Nation Is This? Conceptualizing Burmese National Identity Through Case Studies Of Inter-Ethnic Conflict, Jason Leong

Honors Theses

The ongoing Rohingya Genocide is the most extreme expression of Burmese identity and has catapulted the nation of Myanmar onto the world stage. This thesis examines the development of a Burmese national identity during British colonial rule through the lens of inter-ethnic conflict between the Bamar ethnolinguistic majority and ethnic minorities living in colonial Myanmar. Through analyzing three different case studies, each representing a watershed expression of Burmese identity, this thesis illustrates how inter-ethnic conflict shaped what it means to be Burmese. Using archival material from the British Library such as political cartoons, government reports, and vernacular newspaper clippings, this …

Memories And New Beginnings: Chinese American Restaurants And Food As A Contact Zone In Early-Twentieth Century California, Nicholas Kim

Honors Theses

In previous Asian American studies, authors largely focus on urban centers. In my thesis, I center rural Chinese American communities in early-twentieth century California in the making of the Chinese American identity. I argue that they, along with Chinese American food, acted as contact zones for Chinese and non-Chinese Americans. This paper covers a range of themes, including most prominently the connection between food and culture. I additionally address how Chinese American restaurants and food challenged perceptions of Chinese Americans as foreigners, their role in gender relations, and what we consider to be authentic. This paper largely uses archival newspaper …

From Jeju To Gwangju: Korean People’S Movements And The Ongoing Struggle For Political Recognition In The Post-1945 Us Hegemonic Order, Kingsley Song

CUREJ - College Undergraduate Research Electronic Journal

South Korea is often held up as a model for the Global South within the political science discipline for both its economic success and democratic governance. However, in both regards, the scope of research on South Korea is still limited by this widely accepted narrative. Current literature on South Korea in political science has focused on its economic success as an “East Asian Tiger” with little consideration for its political processes. Conversely, within ongoing debates on democratization, South Korea has often been ignored in favor of other countries in the Global South and presumed as a successful export of US …

The Glorious Past And The Ecologically Modern: A Guided Journey Through Reconstructions Of China In Rural Shanxi, Melinda Herrold-Menzies

EnviroLab Asia

The article traces an EnviroLab Asia research trip designed to learn how “traditional” music and “folk” dance had been used to transform a loose configuration of farms into an integrated organic agricultural cooperative. This trip was second part of a multi-pronged case-study project looking at music, agriculture and sustainability in Indonesia and China. The importance of this research trip was to build collaborative relationships with our colleagues in Shanxi so that we will be able to produce interdisciplinary research with multinational partners in the future.

The Need And Emergence Of Political Power For 'Asian American' Or Aapi And Its Impacts Today: Comparison Between The Black Power Movement, The Civil Rights Movement, And The Rise Of Asians, Sarah Yoon

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

The first known Asians arrived in the United States in the 16^th century. By the mid-19^th century, major waves of Asian immigrants traveled to the United States. During this time, early Asian immigrants faced racist stereotypes, discrimination, and exclusionary legislations. Inspired by the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements, early Asian activists created political coalitions, redefined their identity, and gained political power. Gaining political power ensures they are incorporated into society, their needs are addressed, resources are shared equally, and meaningful influence over government policies were obtained. Through this, early Asians created their self-determined label and political coalition: …

Kokoro: Hints And Echoes Of Japanese Inner Life, Lafcadio Hearn, Koizumi Yakumo

Zea E-Books Collection

The works of Lafcadio Hearn (Koizumi Yakumo) played a critical role in introducing his adopted Japan to a worldwide audience. In Kokoro: Hints and Echoes of Japanese Inner Life, he writes, “The papers composing this volume treat of the inner rather than of the outer life of Japan, — for which reason they have been grouped under the title Kokoro (heart). This word signifies also mind, in the emotional sense; spirit; courage; resolve; sentiment; affection; and inner meaning, — just as we say in English, ‘the heart of things.’” After centuries of isolation Meiji-era Japan was forced to adjust …

Fidelity Afire: British Observations & Theatrical Interpretations Of Sati, 1650-1830, Abigail Fer

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

What can the shifting British interpretations of sati in the period between 1650 and 1830 tell us about the changes in how the British saw themselves as colonizers? This is the central question that this thesis seeks to resolve. From 1650 to about 1750, British interests in the Indian subcontinent were similar to other Europeans traveling in the area, characterized by the establishment of trading posts and dependence on the governing Mughals. From the beginning of this time period, European travelers were grappling with making sense of the Hindu practice of widow immolation, or sati. Early accounts by French and …

Missouri Soybean Exports And The Democratizing Market Force, David D. Hammons

MSU Graduate Theses

A commonly held assumption of America’s post-Cold War place in the world is that prolonged contact with American capitalism and democracy will lead to the adoption of these systems in all nations that participate in international trade. This paper attempts to verify or disprove that assumption by examining a specific traded commodity between two specific nations, the institutions that support this trade, and the people actively participating in it. The growth of soybean exports from the state of Missouri provides this vehicle for examining the trade history between the United States of America and China, and provides evidence that disproves …

The Cultural Blueprint Of Laotian Society From The Contexts Of Traditional And Modern Music, Nandi Ampone Woodfork-Bey

Senior Projects Fall 2022

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies and The Arts of Bard College

Navigating The Tide: Localism, Transnationalism, And Historiography In Zhejiang Chao, Sijin Gao

Senior Projects Fall 2022

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

Imagined Realities: The Rise Of New Wave Cinema In Post-War Japan, Asia Miro Smudde Tom

Senior Projects Spring 2022

Project Submitted to the Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

My thesis explores cinematic representation in post-war Japan leading up the the New Wave movement. I examine the work of Yasujiro Ozu and Sun Tribe youth films and their relationship with conventions of cinema to bring awareness to narrative constructions of historical periods.

History, Ritualization, And The Rhetoric Of Legitimacy In Decem Libri Historiarum And Wei Shu, Bo Wen (Kent) Zheng

Senior Projects Spring 2022

Historical scholarship since the Second World War has, in general, successfully challenged the nationalist notion that ethnic identities are essential and stable markers of self-hood. One of the most influential entries from this bibliography is Benedict Anderson’s seminal study on the “horizontal” affect of the nation-state, Imagined Communities(1983), wherein the author identifies print capitalism and mass literacy as key contributors to the birth of “national communities” in the modern parlance. Less well defined in Anderson’s story of the nation, however, is the potential effect of pre-modern historical experiences on trajectories of modern state-formation. In response, this thesis explores the …

Mansfield, Marines, And Mothers: The Politics Of Resistance To The American Intervention In North China From 1945-1946, James Robert Compton

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

At the conclusion of World War II, American citizens, including millions of deployed servicemen, reasserted the democratic freedoms they sacrificed to win the war. The American intervention in North China during the Chinese Civil War presented a ripe opportunity for civic restoration in late 1945. Controversial and seemingly at odds with the stated goals of the Second World War—namely the “Four Freedoms” and the Atlantic Charter—the US military presence in North China faced formidable domestic political obstacles. This thesis explores the nexus of domestic politics and foreign policy in the post-World War II era. Focusing on 1945-1946, this project steps …

Music And Sound In Weihsien Internment Camp In Japanese-Occupied China, Zhihui Sophia Geng

Asian Studies Faculty Publications

From the chapter's Introduction:
On 7 July 1937, Japanese forces based in Manchuria charged southward towards Beijing, invading north China and hence starting the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–45). On 7 December 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, transforming the Second Sino-Japanese War into the Pacific War. As a result of Pearl Harbor, the status of Allied citizens living in China at the time changed from neutral to ‘enemy aliens’. These Allied citizens included individuals and their families who worked in China as government officials, executives, engineers and Christian missionaries. They were forced into internment camps under the watchful eyes of the …

Picturing A Storm Center In The Far East: Geopolitical Image And Representation Of Korea In Early American Newspaper Visuals, Jihyung Kim

Master's Projects and Capstones

This Capstone Project explores the image and representation of Korea in early modern American newspaper visuals during the period when Korea and the U.S. first began to engage in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The American newspaper visuals, which interact with headlines, captions, and texts, are represented with specific patterns and features in close links to the newspaper's geopolitical discourse production, specifically the “Far Eastern Question,” which was produced by western powers and Japan. The visuals were intended to show Korea as a dangerous and uncivilized place, “a storm center in the Far East.” Such geopolitical visuals in …